Arabesque

Withdrawal headaches. Similar to alcohol & drug withdrawal. Your caffeine, sugar, carbs intake has been dramatically reduced as has your calorie intake. All things your body was used to relying upon. It reacts with your migraines. If your migraines were also caused by hormones, your weight loss so far could have effected your levels too. Estrogen is stored in fat. As you lose weight it’s released into your blood stream throwing everything out of whack.

This is really about developing a way of eating that works for you. It’s only wrong if it doesn’t work. I don’t graze as such but I snack - usually 3 or 4 a day. I have specific range of things I eat at specific times - yep very routine & yep that anal. I don’t mindlessly snack. The snacks meet specific needs I have for protein, fibre, etc. My snacks don’t exceed my daily calories but actually help me meet my caloric & higher protein needs. I don’t track. Never had to & have always just done random checks about especially with new foods & to ensure I’m not over/under estimating or becoming complacent. I prep most of what I eat myself from scratch so I have a lot of control over what I eat. I snack on multigrain crackers & liverwurst, cheese, high protein yoghurt, nuts, protein bar. Occasionally I’ll snack on fruit (fresh or freeze dried), baked fava beans or chick peas, multi grain rice crackers & hummus (carefully as a slider), & peanut paste. I tend not to eat sweet foods at all so there’s very little sugar, sugar alternatives or artificial sugar in my diet. Bonus is the snacking between meals actually helps keep my acidic stomach under better control. Out of curiosity does anyone else find the time between eating gets less as the day goes on? I eat at 9am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm, 5pm (not always), 6pm & 7pm.

Yes it does get better. At the moment you’re healing from pretty major surgery & everything is swollen, tender & sensitive. Diarrhoea, nausea, low energy, light headedness, difficulty swallowing are all pretty common post surgical experiences. You’ll find in a month or so it has passed. I had a terribly embarrassing diarrhoea experience on day 3. Got up to pee, took a couple of steps & oh gracious no. Gush. No warning at all. It was dark from surgical bleeding & had a foul odour. I had just the one attack but a friend had it persist for about a week. Beware ‘wet farts’. Her surgeon had recommended disposal knickers - she said it was best advice. I also had a lot of swelling in my throat making swallowing everything for water to meds a struggle for a few days. It was pretty much fine by day 4. It’s important to at least be close to your fluid goals. Dehydration is a real issue for us after surgery. Try warming your water, shakes & other fluids. Warm drinks tend to be more soothing & easier to swallow. I was allowed green or herbal teas - they were fabulous. Don’t worry if you sip on your shakes & soups for ages as long as you’re getting them in. I also used to dilute them to make them thinner & easier to tolerate (esp the shakes which were disgusting after surgery). Bonus was I was consuming more fluid. All the best.

Had my gall removed 13 month after my sleeve. Recovery was pretty similar - just no restricted diet after. 😁 I didn’t have gas pain after my sleeve but did after the gall. Similar surgical discomfort & was a bit low in energy & tired for a few days. Same restrictions on lifting & similar activity advice. My surgeon used the same surgery sites as my sleeve so no new scars. Had some diarrhoea/loose BMs, which slowly disappeared during the first month after. Think I preferred the diarrhoea than the sleeve constipation. Generally was easier because I knew what to expect in regards to hospital procedures, pain/discomfort & other general post abdominal surgery requirements & effects. Funniest was my surgeon has his bariatric patients walk to the theatre but was wheeled in for my gall. Don’t know why. The nurses said he was quirky that way.

I’d also add that carrying your weight with your current co morbidities you have seriously compromised your health & longevity & it will only get worse. The surgery will help you lose the weight so you can live a longer, healthier life with her. Remind her you’ve dieted before & yet here you are. You need the extra help & opportunities surgery offers.

Yep, stall. They can last 1-3 weeks. Check with your dietician about your caloric needs especially with the activity you’re doing. Also is your surgeon aware of how much activity you are doing? All plans are different but it seems a little too much this soon post surgery. I was advised gentle walks to begin & not to start more active exercise until the second month but that was my surgeon.

So sorry you are experiencing this though some of what you’ve mentioned can happen. It’s not uncommon to struggle with purées to begin & will go back a stage for a week or so. You’ve had a pretty major surgery & your tummy is healing & we heal at our own pace so you may need longer on each stage. Your tummy can be very sensitive to lots of flavours & textures for a while, causing you to bring up what you ate or be nauseous. So it can be quite a bit of trial & error to begin before you are further a long in the healing process. Are you taking multivitamins yet? Many can make you feel nauseous & cause yiu to vomit. Ensure you take the. After you’ve eaten or with your last sip. Try a different brand, formulation or try swapping to gummies or patches. Try warming your water (room temp or more) as many of us find warm drinks more soothing than cool or cold. Ensure you are sipping/eating slowly & are keeping the sip/bite small. Sometimes further thinning out purées can make them easier to tolerate. Add additional gravies or stock to your purées or milk to your yoghurt so they’re more runny than dollop like. But it is a good idea to go ahead with the endoscopy to ensure nothing else is happening. And maybe try a stronger dose PPI.

I wasn’t given calories either just portion sizes. Started at 1/4 - 1/3 cup slowly increasing to about a cup by my goal at 6 months. I was a low calorie consumer so barely 900 at 6 months but that was me. I found, that as your dietician suggested I slowly increased as I was able to eat more & needed more. By the time I was stabilising (around 18months) I was following more accepted recommended portion sizes: 3-4oz protein, up to a cup vegetables & eating around 1300 calories (now about 14400) which is about appropriate for my age, height, weight & activity level. But that was me. Your needs likely will be different.

Small, fine strainers (tea strainers are good) to ensure any soups you eat a completely free of lumpy or fibrous (herbs) bits. Zip lock bags for freezing single serve portions. (I even use them for soup. Measuring cups & spoons & scales with small weight increments. Baby spoon & fork or buffet spork small bowls & side plates if you don’t have any blender, stick blender, NutriBullet or similar. Have all your over the counter meds ready - non NSAID pain meds like tylenole, stool softener or similar, soluble fibre, electrolyte drinks, gas X, Imodium, recommended multivitamins, etc. The best shake question can be challenging as many find their taste buds change & the shake or flavour they enjoyed before surgery they can’t tolerate after. Have a couple of flavours & brands on hand. Have a range of soups (cream, consommés, bone broths) on have in case you really struggle with the shakes too. Don’t worry about buying clothes yet and even then buy very few. You may already have smaller sizes in your cupboards or you may drop so quickly it’s not worth the money - except if your pants/skirts/knickers are falling down 😁. All the best.

Might be best to discuss this with your surgeon & your prescribing doctor. Out of curiosity, who told you you’d have to temporarily stop taking it? From a hormone modification perspective alone I’d wonder why? People still takie the pill & I continued taking my HRT but I’m not your doctors.

If it doesn’t specifically say decaffeinated you would expect it does contain caffeine. You could email the company & see if they respond.

Have to admit I’m very surprised by your PCP’s attitude about this. If your post surgical plan says not to swallow meds or take slow release meds for a period of time, you would expect your PCP to be supportive. The main reason slow release meds are avoided is because of possible absorption issues (more common with bypass but can happen with sleeve). Many, many people successful change their meds to non timed release. It is possible. What will your doctor do when you need to reduce your BP dosage as you lose weight?? I’d ask my pharmacist too about alternatives so you’re more informed about options when you go back to your PCP. As @The Greater Fool said it’s highly likely your meds were first formulated as non time released.

Definitely contact your surgeon. It could be muscular. It could be an internal stitch. But better to be sure.

I know all plans are different but I didn’t need to have another disgusting shake after the first two weeks. Like the others, I got my protein in from ‘real’ food. I didn’t hit my protein goal everyday but the days I didn’t I’d be close. I agree with the suggestion to find a high protein yoghurt. Eat it as yoghurt or make it into a yoghurt drink by blending with milk (count the added milk as fluid). I got 15g protein from the yoghurt & 25g for the yoghurt drink. Made rolled oats on milk & made it pretty thin. Same with scrambled eggs. Only small amounts of additional protein from the milk but it all adds up.I often just ate meat as my lunch meal too - no vegetables. If you eat only 3ozs of most meats you should get about 20g protein which was 1/3 of my daily goal - your goal may be more. I agree, get the burning checked out. Most hunger pangs are just stomach acid not real hunger. You may need a stronger PPI for your stomach acid. And yes, get some high protein meal ideas from your dietician. Water can seem almost heavy to drink @Possum220 for a while. Don’t know why but it does get easier. Try drinking it at room temperature if you drink it cool/cold. Add a little squeeze/splash of fruit juice (any citrus, squashed berries, etc.) to your water & see if that helps ‘lighten’ the water.

How awful. Did you find out why this happened? What was the cause? My initial thought was muscle spasms in my back which I had when I was still in hospital (bought tears to my eyes). Surgeon said I was holding my body stiffly in response to pain & discomfort. For me it was swallowing - had a lot of swelling & could barely swallow a sip of water the first 24/36 hours.

That will be the anaesthetic coupled with the stress of the surgery itself. Many find their hair temporarily changes texture (more coarse, finer, etc.) after any surgery not just weight loss. Then add in the reduced diet with our diet, our natural hair loss cycle is accelerated. Double hair whammy. 😁. I wondered if that would happen too as the extension is attached to your hair which is more likely to fall out after our surgery. Tape extensions may be better???

I don’t believe will power plays a long term major role in your success either.. I have decades of evidence that my stubbornness & pig headedness meant I could stick to any diet & lose weight. But I always put weight back on because i always went back to eating exactly the same way. Sound familiar? I never dealt with the why I ate. I never permanently changed my relationship with food. My will power couldn’t compete with those old, strong habits & thinking. Many of the benefits of the surgery don’t last. Your hunger comes back. Your restriction isn’t as strong. You can physically eat more, etc. (People can & do eat out around their restriction & their smaller tummy.) What the surgery does is give you time. Time to lose weight. Time to examine what, why & how you eat. Time to change your relationship with food, to establish new habits & routines around eating. Time to do the head work. The surgery alone doesn’t do all the work for you. If you think it will you won’t be as successful. Reframing the problem, as @SpartanMaker suggested, certainly worked for me. For many years I managed my reflux through dietary choices. Cut out daily carbonated drinks. (Limited how much soda or tonic water or champagne I’d had when socialising.) I cut out caffeine (except green tea). No spicy food (helped I had a sensitivity to chilli). Avoided rich, creamy, fatty, oily food. If I ate/drank them I would experience severe hiccups & other reflux symptoms. It became it didn’t matter how much enjoyment/ pleasure/comfort I got from eating/drinking them, they made me sick so it wasn’t worth it. I approached my post surgical weight loss & the way I eat now the same way. I’ve put my health & well being above any emotional benefits I got from eating. I feel so much better by not eating in my old way. I don’t get bloated & windy everyday. I don’t have those little white pimply bumps on my arms & they aren’t dry & scaly either. My thighs don’t rub together so no more heat rashes. I sleep better. My feet don’t ache when I wear heels or stand for any length of time. I have more energy. I didn’t have any comorbidities before my surgery so I can’t claim I don’t have those anymore but my chance of developing them is extremely low. I’m maintaining my weight. And so on. Initially it was my physical well being that motivated the change of thinking but now there’s also a emotional & mental well being component. And yes, part of that is vanity. The old maxim of eating to live not living to eat resonates strongly with me. I’m trying to apply this thinking to the stretching exercises I do now. (I really don’t enjoy exercising.) I feel better & body parts are looking leaner & more defined. Sorry for the long post.

I think genetics play a big part in how strong your teeth are. So there may be a predisposition or weakness to various teeth issues. My brother has never had a dental issue, refused to take the fluoride tablets as a child, wasn’t the most regular brusher & rarely goes to the dentist. His dentist says he’d go broke if he was relying on doing procedures on my brother. I was the opposite, did & do all the right things: 6 monthly visits, brushing, flossing, fluoride, … & yep I had wisdom teeth removed, braces & fillings. (Haven’t had any for years though.) I also wonder how many of the teeth issues after surgery is actually from years of eating a poor diet??? It can take up to four or five years for tooth decay to reach a stage that treatment is necessary. Do you have children? Remember mothers lose a lot of calcium while pregnant weakening their teeth (& bones). Also, I hate to tell you but menopause can play havoc with your teeth too. https://www.periodonticsnaples.com/the-negative-effects-of-menopause-on-oral-health You may be experiencing a perfect storm of contributing factors.

To add to @SpartanMaker’s great response, a few things I’ve discovered that have worked for me. Often, because of the delay of your fullness signal, by the time you feel full, you’ve often already eaten more than you need. I’ve found I sometimes have a very slow signal. I can unexpectedly feel full an hour or so after I finished eating. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s one of the reasons I still eat slowly. If my meal has cooled I’ll simply reheat it. It’s also why I don’t rely on feeling full to stop my eating. My goal is not to feel full but that I’ve eaten what I (my body) needs. I ask myself if I really need the next bite or if I just want it (I share this a lot). It’s how I’m more mindful of my eating. I often pick up my fork or spoon, ask myself that question & put my cutlery down again. I do this whenever & wherever I eat - at home, at family & friend’s, at restaurants. I may eat that bite a few minutes later or I may not eat any more at all. Portion size is also a big consideration. I don’t always eat all of my portion but I never eat more than my portion. Also don’t be afraid to set aside your portion if family demands stop you eating all your meal. You can always eat some more or finish it later on. Treat the unfinished meal as a snack or as eating several small meals. You’re not exceeding your caloric intake for the day by doing this. Many have found this to work for them.

I’m with @SpartanMaker, it’s likely what you’re eating. Maybe not directly related to your surgery but there could be a certain food or food group that isn’t being digested as well & causing the gas. I used to have a sensitivity to lactose thanks to a parasite & would get a lot of wind (& then diarrhoea) if I had more than a little lactose like a milky drink or milk on my cereal. I think my surgery might have cut away the parasite but still only have lactose free milk just in case. It’s also a common sensitivity post surgery though often temporary. Other foods that can cause excess gas & colic like pain include: beans & lentils (gave me a lot when I first began increasing my consumption) brassicas - cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc. fructose - found in fruit & as a sweetener added to some foods corn, pasta, potatoes, rice & other starch rich foods sorbitol & other sugar alcohols found in artificial sweeteners (this is a common sensitivity after surgery) Maybe an elimination diet or a version of your own making and see if cutting out certain foods helps. Also what does your surgeon suggest?

Good idea to give you an idea of how your recovery might go. Just remember everyone’s recovery is different so know it may not be what you experience. You’ll also find some posts here about how people got on. All the best.

This is perfectly normal. You’ve just undergone a pretty major surgery & your recovering & healing. Listen to your body. If it says rest or nap, have a rest or have a nap. (Wish I could still justify an afternoon nap 😁.) How long this current lack of energy will last as it will depend upon how you heal & recover. And you may have another period of low energy in a couple of months - it’s our body getting used to the changes. Try adding an electrolyte drink to your fluid roster. Try to get your fluids & protein in. It may be difficult to begin but keep working at it. It does get easier & you will feel stronger & have more energy as you progress. All the best.

Had a few leftover vegetables to use up before they went to God (or the bin) so decided to make a 4 egg omelette. Celery, capsicum, tomatoes & cheese. It split when I was flipping it so looks a bit messy. Had half for lunch yesterday & will have the other half tonight.

And also you’ll likely experience them a couple of times while you are losing. All perfectly normal.

Surely all that food should be kept in your lunch room or kitchenette not in the open working office space?? I understand having a few snacks at your desk for your personal nibbling (we all do that) but this sounds like day long party eating. I worked in an office where the lead would have an informal catch up team meeting with morning tea in her pod. And another office that regularly held lunches & morning teas to celebrate or recognise just about any event you could think of or create. But once everyone had eaten the food was packed away. You could go into the lunch room to snack on a leftover if you wanted. If people bought in a home cooked treat it was kept in the lunch room too with an open invitation to help yourself. People would grab a coffee & pick up the treat & go back to their desk. Unfortunately, you can’t stop what others choose to eat but is there any way to influence where that eat it or where it’s stored or shared??